Pirates ace Gerrit Cole loses to Reds for 3rd time this season, falls 4-3 in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI — Gerrit Cole made only a couple of mistakes. Against the Reds, that is enough to wind up losing again.

Eugenio Suarez had a sacrifice fly and an RBI double off Pittsburgh's 14-game winner, and Cincinnati extended its home-field success over the Pirates with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night.

The Reds have won five of six against their Ohio River rival at Great American Ball Park this season. They are 9-3 against Pittsburgh overall.

Cole (14-5) leads the majors in wins, but three of his five losses have come against the Reds, a team he has never beaten. Jay Bruce added a run-scoring double as Cole fell to 0-4 in six career starts against the Reds.

"I'm very frustrated," Cole said. "They've got me every time. But you have to honestly evaluate and find stuff to move forward with. I thought there were some mistakes that need to be corrected. There weren't a ton."

Suarez got his third RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning off newcomer Joe Blanton for a 4-2 lead.

Raisel Iglesias (2-3) gave up four hits, including Jung Ho Kang's homer, in 6 2-3 innings to get his first victory since May 13. Iglesias is part of Cincinnati's all-rookie rotation and had struggled in three starts since returning from a strained left oblique.

"We had really good at-bats against Chapman in the ninth and put ourselves in position to do something significant," manager Clint Hurdle said.

Cincinnati listened to offers for Chapman before Friday's trade deadline but decided to keep him. He has converted 55 consecutive save chances at Great American.

Cole has been excellent on the road this season, going 9-2 with a 2.01 ERA. The Reds took advantage of a couple of defensive shortcomings to beat him again.

"So far, it's a team that has confidence against a couple of our starters," Hurdle said. "They have confidence when they go up against Gerrit right now."

Marlon Byrd opened the second with a stand-up triple, a liner that eluded a diving Andrew McCutchen in center. He scored on Suarez's flyout. Byrd is 8 for 16 off Cole for his career, including three homers.

Byrd and Brayan Pena singled in the fourth, and Suarez doubled for a 2-1 lead. The Reds added an unearned run in the fifth when Brandon Phillips singled, advanced on Chris Stewart's passed ball and came around on the first of Bruce's two doubles.

ANOTHER GREAT CATCH

Marte made a diving catch in left field to rob Bruce in the first inning. Marte threw a runner out at the plate in the ninth inning Friday night and also made a diving catch to preserve a 5-4 win.

STREAKS

Marte went 0 for 5, ending his hitting streak at 10 games. ... Reds star Joey Votto was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, ending his streak of reaching base safely in 21 consecutive games.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: LHP Bobby LaFromboise was optioned back to Triple-A Indianapolis to open a roster spot for starter J.A. Happ, who joined the team on Saturday.

Reds: Byrd was hit on the left shoulder by Blanton's pitch in the eighth but stayed in the game.

UP NEXT:

Pirates: Charlie Morton makes his fourth straight start on the road, where he is 2-3 with a 7.26 ERA in six games this season.

Reds: Keyvius Sampson makes his first career start and second appearance. He'll give the Reds five rookies in the starting rotation.